Author: missmernagh

I wanted to let you all know about my new BFF: Twinkl. I have become a huge fan over the last year for a number of reasons.

My school is reducing the number of textbooks that pupils use. YAH!!! I’m not a big fan of workbooks. I won’t go into that now as it would be a blog post in itself. The knock on effect of no textbooks is a greater need for hands on resources, good quality hands on resources.

I will walk you through my year with no textbook for S.E.S.E (Science, History, Geography). Well, those are prop heavy topics when you don’t have resources laid on with a textbook.

I will give you a detailed example of how I created a unit based around minibeasts , Naturama and Twinkl resources.

I purchased Naturama on the advice of a colleague. Wow, what a book!!! Naturama is divided into the 4 Seasons. I based my minibeast and nature studies around the content for each season. Basically, at the start of Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer I whipped out Naturama. We read about the signs of the season and then went hunting for them.

I found the most perfect resources from Twinkl to accompany and support this unit for the entire school year. I created a bulletin board that we could update as the season progressed. I hope that you like it!!!

I apologise for the poor quality of this photo. My classroom is so bright that it was really difficult to get a photo where nothing was glaring!!!

We read, for example, Autumn in Naturama. I pulled out the photos of the minibeasts mentioned in the chapter. We explored them using the Minibeast Description Word Mat. We researched and learned about those that were unfamiliar. The following lesson we reviewed what we would be likely to find on our minibeast hunt, where we would find them etc. Then it was off for our Minbeast Hunt!!!

At the end of the Minibeast Hunt we pinned up the minibeasts that we had located and checked them off on our Minibeast Hunt Checklist. We pondred why we did not locate some of those mentioned in Naturama: our school environment didn’t have a pond etc.

Those resources remained on your notice board ready for revisiting at the beginning of the next season. The permanent display kept the topic alive in our minds. Kids would excitedly tell me about what they saw at home, in the park… eager to get another photo up on the display!!! Our rule was that it must be located in our school habitat. We often did multiple minibeast hunts per season to see if we could add more to our wall of fame!!!

With the passing season more photos and checklists would be placed on the display. The checklists allowed and indeed encouraged us to compare and contrast our season finds.

I hope that you find this blog post useful and that it encourages you to get out there and hunt for minibeasts. These resources would be great in any classroom or indeed any home. I love that I could print and use actual photos instead of the usual clipart ones that are available.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh 🙂

I was given access to TWINKL but all thoughts and opinons are my own.

I thought that you might like to see my favourite books for Valentine’s Day. I have been busy updating my library and these are my latest purchases. You have just enough time to order them for your littles one’s Valentine gift so don’t delay…

The first is Love from the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This book is just adorable.

This cute book explores what love means: ‘You are the cherry on my cake’

‘You are the bees knees’

It’s a small book with lots of sentiments. It would be a lovely gift for a Grandparent either… Just saying…

Love Monster is a slightly hairy monster trying to fit in with the cuddly residents of Cutesville. But as it turns out, it’s hard to fit in with the cute and the fluffy when you’re a googly-eyed monster. And so, Love Monster sets out to find someone who will love him just the way he is. His journey is not easy―he looks high, low, and even middle-ish. But as he soon finds out, in the blink of a googly eye, love can find you when you least expect it.

I won’t spoil the ending for you…!!! It’s a great book to explore how we all need someone to love and that we should never give up on finding it. Click here to purchase Love Monster.

I hope that you have found a book or two to add to your Valentine collection.

I will be reading this one to my class over the coming weeks. A nice introduction to Winter without the mention of the “C” word!. It is beautifully illustrated and has an almost vintage feel about it. I have fallen in love…

“Deep in the woods on the coldest day of winter a little boy drops his mitten. And that lost mitten stretches and stretches — and stretches — to provide shelter for many woodland creatures. A Ukrainian folk tale.” Purchase it here.

A twist on the classic Gingerbread man tale. Seriously, how cute is the Gingerbread Baby? He stole my heart years ago. I actually purchased this tonight but as a board book this time. I can’t wait to read it to a certain someone!

“Remember how the Gingerbread Boy is eaten by the fox? Well, not this Gingerbread Baby in a delicious twist to a favorite old tale.It all begins when Matti opens the oven too soon and out jumps a cheeky little Gingerbread Bay. He leads Matti’s mother and father, the dog and the cat. And a whole colorful cast of characters on a rollicking chase through the village and into the forest, staying just out of reach, daring them to catch him along the way.But Matti’s not with them. He’s at home in the borders making what turns out to be a gingerbread house into which the Gingerbread Baby runs. Only Matti knows he is safely inside. And readers will too when they look under the lift-the-flap gingerbread house at the end of the story, and there he is!” Purchase it here.

Please, please purchase this gem of a book if you live in Ireland. I have purchased some as Christmas gifts and have ordered one for my class too. It is so very rare to find a specifically Irish nature book. The authors have just knocked this one out of the ballpark!!! Incredibly accurate and detailed illustrations. Just enough information and facts to get you started. The Irish Wildlife Trust receive a commission for each book sold. What a great cause. Purchase it here.

A big shout out to my dear friends Maria, Valeria and Hugo for introducing this to me. I have this on my literacy scheme for school. It’s a great way to open the topic of feelings and emotions. It’s a must for SPHE or indeed any home.

“One day, Colour Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, sad and scared all at once! To help him, a little girl shows him what each feeling means through colour. A gentle exploration of feelings for young and old alike”. Purchase it here.

One of my absolute favourite gifts to purchase for any child is a book. It’s my “go-to” for all occasions and celebrations. I thought that I’d take a few moments to list a few of my old and new favourites of the past year. There is still plenty of time to order them for the little ones in your lives!

I am totally obsessed with this book and know it by heart since purchasing it a few month ago. It’s a great tale about respect, friendship and the power of friends coming together for a common goal. It is so well written that it just trips off the tongue. A fantastic story to get even the youngest child to join in. Purchase it here.

It’s no secret that I am a huge Dr. Seuss Fan. “Wet foot, dry foot. Low foot, high foot…” It’s a great way to introduce opposites. It is chock full of Dr. Seuss rhyming so it’s a great read from cover to cover. Purchase here.

I stumbled on this cute series at Halloween and made a few purchases. I am looking forward to reading this one in the coming weeks. When I say read, well it’s a word or two per page. It’s pretty much a picture book so you could let your imagination go wild on this one. You get to see them skating, sledding, and making snow angels and helping Duck decorate their Christmas tree. Cute, simple and one theme. Purchase it here.

I’ve owned this book for over 15 years. If you have an interest in the story of the Nativity then this is a must. A hilarious retelling from the perspective of the Inn Keeper. He is far from impressed with all of that knocking at his door!! Purchase it here.

I think that I might have Platypus, by Chris Riddell, for as long as I’ve been teaching. Well, maybe not quite that long but it’s a firm favourite.

“A big rock. Some slimy seaweed. An old shoe. None of these is quite what Platypus wants for his special collection. Then he finds a beautiful curly shell–perfect! But the next morning his curly shell is gone. Where can it be?The star of a brand new series from acclaimed author-illustrator Chris Riddell, the thoughtful, lively, and always curious Platypus is a wonderful companion for every young child.”

Platypus is just beyond adorable to read. I like to do so early in the year as it’s a very simple read and visiting the beach is not a dim and distant memory. It’s easier to make a “text to self-connection” to the beach in September than in December.

Now that I am teaching Senior Infants I have created a more text rich reader response activity to accompany our reading of Platypus by Chris Riddell. Platypus is a fan of collecting little trinkets and is looking to expand his collection. I have created two different reader response activities to accompany our reading of Platypus. Both involve making a “text to self-connection”. Here they are:

Platypus by Chris Riddell is a series of books. Unfortunately, I only own one. They only seem to be available on Amazon at the moment. Click here for a link. I’m a Book Depository kind of gal so I am a little bit disappointed by this. I’d really love to have the entire Platypus series. I might have to bite the bullet and order them from Amazon. I know that they will be well worth it.

Speeding Tickets for classrooms seem to be the next big thing on Pinterest. Have you ever used them?! I seem to spend a lot of time writing notes on textbooks and worksheets to that effect. Same kids every time but that’s a different story… Do you feel me?

Anyway, I’ve been tempted to use Speeding Tickets in the past but they always seemed to wordy for my little kiddos. I was messing around with graphics the other day and decided to try my hand at making my own Speeding Tickets. My speeding tickets don’t have that many words on them at all. I wanted to keep them simple and clear so my Senior Infants can read them. I think the simple act of stapling a Speeding Ticket to their work should a great way to reinforce the need to take time and care when completing assignments.

I generally don’t blog about resources that I haven’t used yet. Obviously, I am on Summer Break and haven’t yet trialed them. Let me know what you think.

I know that it’s only the first day of summer but I’ve already started shopping and prepping for next year. I thought that you all might like to be kept in the loop!

The first thing that my work colleague and I ordered was more personalised stampers from www.superstickers.com. I have purchased from them before and just can’t say enough about them!!! I love their stampers and their stickers. The quality is amazing. The stamper ink doesn’t bleed through the page. They come in all sorts of designs and colours. I like the option to personalise a whole lot. They last really, really well. Get the picture? I love http://www.superstickers.com!!!

I always struggle with keeping up with absences in workbooks. I have the best on intentions to write “absent” on the relevant pages. It happens most of the time, well some of the time… Well, that’s all about to change!!! I created an Absent Stamper using http://www.superstickers.com. You can see the process below. I chose red ink to make it pop. I am hoping that my “Lucky Duck” will be in charge of the stamper. I am guessing that the average 6yr old will be highly motivated to stamp workbooks of those absent?! Time will tell but I’m optimistic.

I am playing around with a few more stampers like this one:

I think that it could be really useful too. I seem to write this phrase more than I would like to…

I also fancy ordering these ones:

You’d almost think that this is a sponsored post for www.superstickers.com! It isn’t, I just really love their products. I take some photos when I place my final order.